Port Stephens Council Access to Information Team Fakes Collective Amnesia to
Prevent Rightful Disclosure of Unlawful Recording, 16.04.2019
A document issued today in response to a valid access application under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, GIPA, evidences a number of executives collaborating to undermine the public’s beneficial legislation and protect individual(s) from accountability for breaching the Court Security Act 2005.
Previously reported on this Site on 20th April 2018, witnesses had diarised the making of an unlawful recording in an NCAT hearing room by a senior in-house solicitor of Port Stephens Council; Lisa Helene Marshall.
The earlier article reported the actions of Ms Marshall where she had left her Council laptop running adjacent to (2) two members of the public who were participating in NCAT proceedings with Council at that time, recording their private conversation.
Later on the same day the Council’s external legal services provider Carlo Zoppo was seen holding up a USB device in his right hand, declaring to the presiding NCAT Appeal Panel Members he had a recording, and that he wanted NCAT to listen to it.
The parties to the Appeal Panel proceedings were Telina Webb as Appellant and Port Stephens Council as Respondent, represented by Lisa Marshall, Council’s Corporate Policeman Tony Leslie Wickham, and external legal services provider Carlo Zoppo; an appeal in the Tribunal likely outside of Lisa Marshall’s legal capacity so Mr Zoppo was engaged at the public’s expense. Instead of representing Council as part of her day to day duties as a solicitor, she focused on unlawfully recording the private conversation between Ms Webb and her husband while they remained in the Tribunal hearing room.
Ms Webb had lodged her valid access application for government information, an unedited copy of the recording, on 21st March 2019; and today was the big day for the decision!
Today Council did issue its Notice of Decision in response to Ms Webb’s access application for government information; determining the requested information was not held.
Apparently all (3) three individuals managed to convince novice Right to Information Officer Holly Jamadar who is also a subordinate of Mr Wickham, not one of them had any recollection of what recording Webb was requesting access to; begging the question has this happened on more than one occasion?! “No reasonable person would accept all three had some miraculous collective amnesia event which saw each unable to recall the circumstances of the recording. I’m not sure how I’d politely describe a group of entrusted highly paid individuals at the executive level who have obviously conspired to undermine the public’s beneficial legislation and protect each other from due accountability at the same time. And let’s not forget misleading a Right to Information Officer who has legally implicated by default. Extraordinary just does not suffice,” stated Ms Webb. The Notice of Decision is available here. An extract of the Hearing Transcript is available here. Contact: Lisa Marshall: lisa.marshall@portstephens.nsw.gov.au Tony Wickham: Tony.wickham@portstephens.nsw.gov.au Carlo Zoppo: www.lindsaytaylorlawyers.com.au
The earlier article reported the actions of Ms Marshall where she had left her Council laptop running adjacent to (2) two members of the public who were participating in NCAT proceedings with Council at that time, recording their private conversation.
Later on the same day the Council’s external legal services provider Carlo Zoppo was seen holding up a USB device in his right hand, declaring to the presiding NCAT Appeal Panel Members he had a recording, and that he wanted NCAT to listen to it.
The parties to the Appeal Panel proceedings were Telina Webb as Appellant and Port Stephens Council as Respondent, represented by Lisa Marshall, Council’s Corporate Policeman Tony Leslie Wickham, and external legal services provider Carlo Zoppo; an appeal in the Tribunal likely outside of Lisa Marshall’s legal capacity so Mr Zoppo was engaged at the public’s expense. Instead of representing Council as part of her day to day duties as a solicitor, she focused on unlawfully recording the private conversation between Ms Webb and her husband while they remained in the Tribunal hearing room.
Ms Webb had lodged her valid access application for government information, an unedited copy of the recording, on 21st March 2019; and today was the big day for the decision!
Today Council did issue its Notice of Decision in response to Ms Webb’s access application for government information; determining the requested information was not held.
Apparently all (3) three individuals managed to convince novice Right to Information Officer Holly Jamadar who is also a subordinate of Mr Wickham, not one of them had any recollection of what recording Webb was requesting access to; begging the question has this happened on more than one occasion?! “No reasonable person would accept all three had some miraculous collective amnesia event which saw each unable to recall the circumstances of the recording. I’m not sure how I’d politely describe a group of entrusted highly paid individuals at the executive level who have obviously conspired to undermine the public’s beneficial legislation and protect each other from due accountability at the same time. And let’s not forget misleading a Right to Information Officer who has legally implicated by default. Extraordinary just does not suffice,” stated Ms Webb. The Notice of Decision is available here. An extract of the Hearing Transcript is available here. Contact: Lisa Marshall: lisa.marshall@portstephens.nsw.gov.au Tony Wickham: Tony.wickham@portstephens.nsw.gov.au Carlo Zoppo: www.lindsaytaylorlawyers.com.au